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Ear Nose and Throat
Age-related hearing loss – Presbycusis
20
Jun
Jun
It’s frustrating to be unable to hear well enough to enjoy talking with friends or family. Hearing disorders make it hard, but not impossible, to hear.
Also called: Hearing loss, Presbycusis
It’s frustrating to be unable to hear well enough to enjoy talking with friends or family. Hearing disorders make it hard, but not impossible, to hear. They can often be helped. Deafness can keep you from hearing sound at all. What causes hearing loss? Some possibilities are
• Heredity
• Diseases such as ear infections and meningitis
• Trauma
• Certain medicines
• Long-term exposure to loud noise
• Aging
There are two main types of hearing loss. One happens when your inner ear or auditory nerve is damaged. This type is permanent. The other kind happens when sound waves cannot reach your inner ear. Earwax build-up, fluid or a punctured eardrum can cause it. Untreated, hearing problems can get worse. If you have trouble hearing, you can get help. Possible treatments include hearing aids, cochlear implants, special training, certain medicines and surgery.
Hearing loss that develops as a result of getting older is often known as age-related hearing loss or presbycusis.
It is a progressive bilateral symmetrical age-related sensorineural hearing loss.
The hearing loss is most marked at higher frequencies.
Deterioration in hearing has been found to start very early, from about the age of 18 years.
Despite this, age-related hearing loss may only become noticeable later in life.
Examples of microscopic changes seen in this condition are hair cell degeneration of the cochlea and giant stereociliary degeneration.